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Join Liberty on the Rocks tomorrow evening for a fun and informative night at Choppers Sports Grill in Cherry Creek. We’ve got lots of fun activities planned in addition to having plenty of social networking opportunities!

We hope everyone takes advantage of this opportunity for an “off the record” Q&A with national, award-winning, CNN journalist, Jim Spellman! He was originally scheduled for our May 16th meetup, but had to travel out of town to cover the devastation in the south and the Joplin tornado. [...] [...]

[ June 9, 2011; 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm. ] Think Obamacare is the wrong solution? Think it is the right solution? Come learn about what can happen when doctors and patients get together in the marketplace. Our guest speaker is Ralph Weber, he has contributed health reform policy for politicians including Rudy Giuliani and Mike Villines. He has personal experience with the Canadian Healthcare system [...] [...]

Something to think about on Memorial Day: “This Memorial Day, I’m reflecting upon the remarkable life of Frank Buckles, the last known American veteran of World War 1, Frank Woodruff Buckles, who passed away in West Virginia in February at the age of 110. Buckles witnessed astonishing events in the course of his life, including the [...] [...]

I will point out only one. It exemplifies the other issues. Ms. Ogburn writes, “Many chicken farmers these days are forced, contractually, to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars in chicken houses…”

First, contracts are voluntary transactions. To say someone is “forced” to live up to an agreement they made freely is a misuse of the word “force.”

Second, it is not true. No one is forced to abide by a contract. A party can always stop performing its duties under an agreement, subject to paying damages to the complying party. Many businesses break contracts every day. If it makes more economic sense to pay the damages than to abide by the previously agreed terms, then the contract most certainly can be unilaterally ended.

For instance, professional sports teams often fire an employee, usually the head coach, before the term of an employment contract is up. The management makes a decision: “Yes, we have a contract with you for two more years to coach our team, but we are not going to allow you to do that. It hurts our business.”

The team must pay the employee damages, but they can most certainly break the contract. So can chicken farmers. If the agreement does not make economic sense, they should not agree to it at all. If, after they agree to it, it no longer makes economic sense, they can – and should – bail.

The first meeting for the month of June. As always plenty to talk about at all levels of government and in the community. All regulars are encouraged to attend, along with old friends and newbies are always welcome. See you all there for lunch! Cheers for Liberty! Event [...] [...]

Colorado State Troopers are spending your tax money prosecuting someone that made a rude gesture to them. Yep, that is right. Thin-skinned traffic cops clearly have too much time and resources on their hands if they have time and resources to spend on this. (See the Denver Post’s article, “Man who flipped off trooper faces harassment charge.”)

State troopers don’t provide a single service not already provided by local sheriffs or police. They write traffic tickets and investigate car wrecks. That is all. They are not state police that investigate crimes. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation is the state agency that does actual police work.

The Colorado State Patrol is another example of a duplicative, wasteful government program. The State Patrol should be discontinued and the money saved. Instead of traffic cops with cool hats we could spend the money on teachers or additional $9 million phone systems like the one JeffCo Schools bought.

From the movie Con Air: An exchange between Pinball, played by Dave Chappelle, and undercover DEA Agent Sims, when the agent’s cover is blown on the transport plane full of the most heinous murderers, rapists and assorted criminals in the federal prison system:

Agent Sims: I’m DEA, d’you know what the **** that means?

Pinball: It means you’re the most crooked ****** on this plane!

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Add the federal Drug Enforcement Agency to the long list of unnecessary, duplicative and wasteful government programs. What does the DEA do that multiple other federal and local law enforcement agencies do not?

Nothing.

So it is with some irony that the DEA recently executed a drug raid among wealthy Aspen residents without bothering to inform either the local sheriff or Aspen police. From the Denver Post article “Federal drug raid in Aspen irks cops:”

Acting DEA Agent-in-Charge Steve Merrill said agents purposely didn’t tell locals about the investigation in part because former Sheriff Bob Braudis, who left office in January, and his successor, Joe DiSalvo, knew the suspects. Merrill didn’t want the investigation compromised.

So the DEA was concerned about local corruption? That’s rich. No, the DEA has to justify its expensive, wasteful, duplicative and unnecessary existence, so it replaces local law enforcement policy with national policy dictated from an unelected lifetime bureaucrat in D.C.

That’s tyranny.

This DEA action is just the latest in the federal government’s intrusion into purely state and local matters. It is a perfect example of why the model “Sheriff’s First” legislation is needed.

… would make it a state crime for a federal officer to arrest, search, or seize in the state without first getting the advanced, written permission of the elected county sheriff of the county in which the event is to take place. Locally-elected sheriffs are accountable to the people and are supposed to the the chief law enforcement officer of the county, bar none. This bill puts teeth into the expectation that federal agents must operate with the approval of the sheriff, or not at all. It also gives the local sheriff tools necessary to protect the people of his county, and their constitutional rights

The Pitkin County Sheriff is elected by the people of Pitkin County. He is directly answerable to them. The DEA is not elected by anyone in Pitkin County. The DEA is not answerable to anyone in Pitkin County.

By intruding on the local sheriff’s autonomy and jurisdiction without his knowledge, the DEA demonstrates its disdain for local law enforcement. The DEA is arrogant, unaccountable, and out of control.

I encourage the State of Colorado to stand up for its sovereignty, to reject federal overreach into purely local matters and to enact the Sheriff’s First Act.

[ July 22, 2011 2:00 pm to July 23, 2011 8:00 pm. ] Liberty on the Rocks would like to spread the word about this economic event on the topics of ending the central bank and paying off the US Debt. It features Dr Thomas Woods Jr. and at least two Nashvillians; Dr Robert Murphy and in a panel session Dr. Richard Grant. Tickets are only $35 and can be [...] [...]

The Libertarian Party of Colorado faces unprecedented opportunity to reach out to new members and spread the message of liberty. More and more Americans realize the failure of the two-party duopoly and are looking for an alternative. Unfortunately, given the nature of the two-party system and plurality voting, we face many of the same barriers to growth we have faced since the inception of the Libertarian Party.

Most Americans, including Coloradans, are hard-wired to think that the only possible electoral process includes two-major parties and plurality voting. It does not. Our voting system is neither in the Constitution nor was it handed down from God to Moses on the top of Mount Sinai. It can be changed by mere legislation. Thanks to the tireless efforts of Frank Atwood, I have been converted to the Church of Approval Voting. Likewise, the LPCO adopted support of Approval Voting at last year’s convention.

I firmly believe that no peaceful substantive political change is possible under our current electoral process. The Democrats and Republicans have traded power at the national level since the Civil War. Since that time, the federal government has done nothing but grow – while individual liberty has shrunk. Neither wing of the duopoly has any incentive to change the process.

I believe a number of Americans are starting to understand that a change in process is necessary before any change in substance can occur. It is our job to make that number grow. To that end, I have done my best to spread the message of limited government and individual liberty throughout the state – in addition to introducing the idea of alternative voting methods to those that did not realize such a thing even existed.

My philosophy is that if there is an invitation to speak, I will take it. I’ll talk before a group Republicans, Democrats, Communists, Hare Krishnas or the American Society of Optometrists. I refuse to turn down an opportunity to spread the message. During my term as State Chair, I have been a substitute radio host on multiple occasions in Greeley and in Denver. I have spoken at numerous Tea Party events – always emphasizing that real liberty means that the government stays out of all voluntary activities between consenting adults, including drugs and sex. I have been quoted in several publications. I have written hundreds of blog posts. I have been active at the state legislature and in state politics.

I always try to argue in favor of liberty, and not against the state. I always try to bring a positive message of freedom, and not an angry message of destruction. We spend too much time arguing with each other or patting ourselves on the back in a small group of the converted when we should be spending our time and energy proselytizing to those that do not yet understand that, indeed, freedom is the answer – regardless of the question.

I can only hope that I have been a decent messenger for liberty and the Libertarian Party of Colorado.